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*After technical difficulties I prestent to you the first Fresh Memories for 2010.  Please excuse us for the delay.*

I think something happened.  A shift took place.  it happened right around the dawn of political correctness.  About the time when they took dodge ball out of public schools.  These kids got soft.  Not just a little soft, but twinkie cream filling soft.  Warm marshmallow soft.  i believed dodge ball is a true reflection of the world.  it's survival of the fittest in it's most primitive form.  It separates the weak from the strong.  If you're slow, awkward, uncoordinated, and disliked chances are you're catching a fast ball to the head and watching the rest of the game from the sidelines.  Matter fact dodge ball is exactly like real life.  That must have been when things changed.  see I'm a child of the 80's.  Like for real.  I know what it's like to fist fight with your best friend, and there be no beef at the end of the day.  i know what it's like to play outside all day in the summer.  And be scared to creep back in the house before dark.  i know the code for Contra still to this day.  I remember blowing on the Nintento cartridge (no homo) to make Mega Man work for a few more hours.  These soft kids today got the game messed up.  they got it easy.  they put on their skinny denim, crank up their ipod, and sit in the house all day.  On Facebook, or watching Youtube.  They don't know what it's like to only get cartoons on for a few hours after school, and on Saturday until noon.  Noon!!!  You wake up late, and no Thundercats for you homie.  Cartoons of the 80's threw political correctness out the window.  It was about boys being boys.  Shooting guns.  Driving tanks.  Cars transforming.  Men riding on cats (again, no homo).  You remember when you heard the opening bars of your favorite cartoon racing to the television to enjoy 20 minutes of  good animated violence.  Yes those were the days.  So today we pay homage to the greatest cartoons of the 80's.  While Spongebob may rule the airwaves today, I'd bet ten Twinkies and two Hot Pockets he couldn't last one round with Sergeant Slaughter.  Enjoy.

* I always loved G.I. Joe, but what's crazy is no one ever died.  They shot each other with lasers, and drove tanks, and no one ever got kilt.  Crazy son.

RxFresh hearts LRG.  Not in a creepy type of way, but in the way a man love something special.  Like his favorite power tool.  Anyway here's their 2010 look book.  Dope.  And the pics are fresh.  Plus our homie Mike Posner makes a cameo in a few of the pics as well.  Peep the line up, and cop from fine reatilers when they drop later this year.

via Highsnobiety

Unless you're completely unfresh, and spend your days under a rock, you should be fully aware that the Air Jordan 11's hit the pavement hard last week.  Space Jam Jordan's son.  People lined up for hours for a chance at a pair.  Foot Lockers were bum rushed by thieves and angry mobs vying for a pair of the beloved gems.  It was hysteria.  It made me remember why I fell in love with Air Jordans.  See long time ago before this internet thing was popping, you couldn't find a pair of kicks using Google.  You had to hunt.  Fresh is not lazy, Fresh is persistent.  If you wanted to be Fresh that meant waking up early, catching the bus, going to the mall, and standing in line.  It meant calling Eastbay two hours before the shoe was released, and stalling out a customer service representative until 8AM when the shoes were available.  It meant saving your checks from a months worth of working at the mall, and feeling good about dropping $175.00 for your favorite pair.  See I'm an avid Air Jordan collector.  I've been one since my Fresh was creeping out of puberty.  I know the difference between deadstock, and retro.  The Air Jordan 11's have a special place in my heart.  Back in 1995 when they first dropped they were madness.  Nike was riding high that year.  The Air Max 95's were already killing the game, but when Mike laced up those patent leather Carolina blue joints we knew it was going to be a problem.  I vividly remember watching the 1996 NBA All Star game.  This was when the All Star game really meant something.  It wasn't just a hodgepodge spectacle.  The players came to ball, and brought along their "A" game.  Jordan ran with the East squad, and had players like Shaq, Penny, and Grant Hill to ride with him.  The West was pretty nice that year too.  Shawn Kemp, The Admiral, The Dream, and Sir Charles were no joke.  I spotted Mike with them on during player introductions.  White on white, with the Carolina blue accents.  I was determined to be the first with a pair.  I called around to to Foot Lockers in my area, and got a confirmed release date.  Back then Jordan's came out on a week day.  These dropped on a Wednesday in 1996 to be correct.  Back in 96 I was a high school freshman, and without having access to a car getting my hands on a pair would prove difficult.  Moms wasn't about to let me miss a day of class for a pair of kicks.  I devised my plan with surgical like precision.  I would go to my first period class, sneak out, get the kicks, and come back to school.  The day came.  I checked into English like any normal day.  When the bell rang to signify the end of class I raced down the stairs, to the back door, and headed straight for Northland Mall.  When I got there the crowd was already on swell.  But I was determined to get a pair.  As soon as they opened the gates I ran full sprint into the store and demanded a size 13 pair.  I dropped down the birthday and Christmas money I had saved that year on the register.  I slid out of the Air Penny's I wore that day, and slipped on my Jordan's.  I wish Kanye had dropped this song back then, because you truly could tell me nothing.  I walked back into school in time enough for my fourth period class.  The looks of envy on the other kids faces as I walked through the hallway were priceless.  People marveled in awe.  Even the teachers had to stop and take notice.  For that day at least, those kicks made me an icon.  Just like the man that inspired the shoe.  So today we salute Air Jordan's.  The G.O.A.T of the shoe game.  There will be many to come after him, but no one will be able to top the impact left by the shoe.  In fresh memorial of the Air Jordans, we present our favorite memories.

*I know this has nothing to do with Air Jordans, but I had to post it.  Shaq took the The Admiral down by the water and baptized him in the 1996 All Star game.  I couldn't let this moment pass.  Enjoy.

If your heart still pumps blood you're fully aware of what time of year it is.  It's Christmas!  No matter how crazy your upbringing was, we all have Fresh Memories of Christmas.  I can still remember one of my favorite Christmas memories.  Would you like to hear it?  Doesn't matter because I'm tellin it anyway.  See I'm an 80's baby.  An authentic one.  I vividly remember Ronald Reagan.  I remember when crack was an epidemic, and they wanted you to just say no.  I remember what life was like without cable and the internet.  I remember when you could only get cartoons before school, after school, and during a small window on Saturdays.  As a young fresh lad, my favorite cartoon was Transformers.  No not these Transformers, but the real Transformers. Back then Megatron was a gun, and Soundwave was a boombox.  I remember shedding a tear when O.G. Optimus Prime got killed in the Transformers movie.  Like, for real died.  I was an avid collector of the action figures at the time.  I keep the good grades so Moms looked out for her only son.  My collection was pretty immense at the time.  I pretty much had every Transformer that I wanted, but one.  Optimus Prime.  Back then he was a pretty hard to find item.  I had been pretty decent all year so I knew the fat man would drop one under the tree.  I wrote Santa a letter detailing my sheer need for Optimus Prime, and nothing else.  Don't bring me a bike, or He-Man, or new socks.  Bring me Prime, fat man.  Back then you wrote a letter to Santa in school, mailed it off, and actually got a response.  It was some form of letter from the post office, but it was good enough for me.  I remember Christmas morning came.  I ripped through every box that had my name on it.  And with every open package I became more disappointed because the one toy I wanted could not be found.  I opened every gift and to my chagrin, no Optimus Prime.  I was heart broken.  My Christmas had been ruined.  As I sat under the tree admiring the gifts I had received Moms handed me a note.  The note gave me specific instructions to go in the basement and look on the couch, Santa had left me something special.  I slugged down the basement steps, and I saw something.  A neatly wrapped red gift.  I ripped off the wrapping paper to find my heart's desire, Optimus Prime.  While I'm many years removed from that Christmas that still ranks as one of my favorite gifts of all time.  To celebrate the spirit of Christmas we present the some of the top toys of Christmas past.  Enjoy.